Sanskrit
इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत । सर्वभूतानि सम्मोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप ॥ २७ ॥
icchādveṣasamutthena dvandvamohena bhārata sarvabhūtāni sammohaṃ sarge yānti parantapa
Translation
By the delusion of the pairs of opposites, sprung from attraction and repulsion, O Bhârata, all beings walk this universe wholly deluded, O Parantapa.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The chapter’s account of ordinary human delusion, traced to a specific mechanism: attraction and repulsion (icchā-dveṣa) generating the “pairs of opposites” (dvandva) that confuse beings “at birth” (sarge) — built in from the start, not acquired later. This sets up the exception verse 28 immediately names. Icchā-dveṣa — wanting and not-wanting — is the same reactive hinge BG 2.62 put at the head of the chain of ruin. Here it is upstream of the dvandva itself, and sarge, “at [each] creation,” makes it congenital. Its root is kāma.
Study deeper
Word by word
- icchādveṣasamutthenaइच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन
- arising from desire and aversion (icchā-dveṣa-samutthena)
- dvandvamohena bhārataद्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत
- by the delusion of the pairs, O Bhārata (dvandva-mohena)
- sarvabhūtāni sammohaṃसर्वभूतानि संमोहं
- all beings, into confusion (sarva-bhūtāni + sammoham)
- sarge yānti parantapaसर्गे यान्ति परन्तप
- go, at birth, O scorcher of the foe (sarge + yānti + parantapa)
Commentary
Site Commentary
“At birth” is doing real work in this verse — sarge locates the delusion at the very start of existence, not somewhere it was picked up later through bad choices or bad environment. That’s a generous premise hiding inside a bleak-sounding claim: if the confusion is universal and original rather than earned, then being confused isn’t itself a personal failure, it’s just the condition everyone starts from before verse 28 describes anyone getting past it.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- If you catch yourself endlessly swayed by attraction and aversion, remember that this reactivity is closer to a default starting condition than a personal failing you alone accumulated — that reframing doesn't excuse it, but it does mean the work is building a new capacity, not fixing something broken.
Professional
- When a team defaults to reactive attraction-and-aversion decision-making — chasing the exciting project, avoiding the unpleasant one — treat it as the organizational default everyone starts from, not a unique failure of this team. Build the process that counters the default, rather than blaming people for having it.
Family & Social
- When someone in your family reacts out of pure like or dislike rather than fairness, remember that this reactivity is close to a universal starting point, not a personal character flaw unique to them. Respond to it as something to work through together, not something to shame.
Ask yourself
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